Development Workshop

I attended the 2008 Professional Development Workshop in St. Petersburg yesterday. My fourth similar workshop in the last two years which begs the question, why are all these opportunities proliferating now? Where was this information 25+ years ago? Like minded older artists share my angst. Business wasn't taught in art school back in the day and only an elite few were savvy enough to figure out the necessary needed attributes. I wasn't one of them. As the saying goes, better late than never. I suppose.

One takes what they need from all this information overload. It's eerily apropos and timely. Strengths and weaknesses become glaringly evident. My weakness is follow-up. Am I too lazy, distracted, forgetful? A bit of all I suspect. My strength is in my determination to succeed, and yes, it's happening (though not as quickly as I'd like).

Support and resources are now readily available to artists, thanks in part to the internet. Take a gander at a few blogs listed on the right under "Blogs I Actually Read". There's Alyson Stanfield, Barney Davey and Seth Godin as excellent examples. They all have produced books of interest.

Attitudes have changed between artists over the years. Rather than casting a leery eye towards one another, we now seek each other out for support. This is why my salon group "Out of Hand Artists", is so essential to all the members.